Traveling over ground and imagination

Tag Archives: Progress

Wow…I have a ton of posts I need to do but just haven’t made the time to do them. I haven’t really talked about my weight loss efforts lately, except for this whiny post, and I think that is affecting my scale. When I was blogging about my workouts and food every day I was losing pretty consistently. I stop talking about them and I stop losing weight. Definitely a correlation! I need to keep my task at hand as close to the forefront as possible to keep myself focused.

So…where were we? How about doing a quick view of my workouts for October.

Yeah, that’s a bit pathetic looking compared to September. However, I had a valid excuse. I had my 4th dilation and the doc told me to sit out for 7-10 days. That being said, I was still slightly inconsistent with my workouts after that too though. I joined a challenge set up by Juliann on Daily Mile to run 10 more miles in November than I did in October. Given that I ran 51 miles in September and only 29 in October, I think I can hit that number!

I also started a competition with Amy where we get points for working out, eating under our calorie goal and hitting 1 macro goal (mine is keeping carbs at or under 150). We also get bonus points if we hit all three in a day to help make up for the times where we weren’t so good! Yep, we also get deducted points when we fail to eat under calories or hit our macro of choice. Seeing as how this started yesterday, November 1st, I’m already negative in points! I knew that going in though because I never eat well at the quilt fest! The competition ends on Jan. 31st and the winner will get to pick the reward, which we haven’t decided on just yet! In February, we’ll be running the Hot Chocolate 5K. Amy wanted to do the 15K, but I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to hold to the 15 minute pace minimum for that distance. So…I’m dragging her to the 5K!

Amy and Jeremy did the 5K Foam Fest with me in October. That was a blast. I still owe y’all a post about that one. They finally sent me the digital pictures (the company, not Amy and Jeremy!) so I’ll be writing that up pretty quick like. No…really…I will! 😀

Umm….what else….I’m sure I’m missing something but that’s ok. I’ll update this site as I go. You’ll be seeing a lot more posts about my weight loss efforts just because it’s something I need to do to keep myself accountable!

I know what you’re all wanting to know. “Am I a She-Hulk yet?” Not, quite but I sure feel like a beast!!

Let’s see how my stats are from 6 weeks ago to yesterday’s final workout:

Start

End

Back Squat

45

125

Deadlift

95

160

Push Up

45%

Reg

Seated Row

45

110

Step Up

55

85

Shoulder Press

15

27.5

Wide Grip Pull Down

40

105

Lunge

15

27.5

While I’m happy with my leg moves, I’m not that thrilled with the press! I mean, come on…27.5lbs? When I was doing CrossFit my 1 time max rep for strict press with a barbell was 80lbs. So, while I find the dumbbell harder I still thought I’d be able to get up to 35 or 40lbs. That’s alright though, I’ll keep pushing through. It’s shocking how out of proportion my upper body strength is to my lower body!

I have missed heavy lifting. I enjoyed CrossFit at the gym until things just built up to a breaking point. Doing CrossFit at the park was fun, but we could never do more weight than we could put in a sandbag and Neal moved on to bigger and better opportunities.

Honestly, I was a bit afraid to see how much muscle strength I had lost in the last few months. Thankfully, I feel like I’ve caught back up pretty quickly to what I think I could do before. My 1 rep max for back squats is 175lbs, so 125lbs at 3×8 is pretty cool!

In order to be able to workout at home, I had to start getting up at 3:45 with my husband. I always thought he was crazy for getting up that early, but if I didn’t want to die of heat stroke sacrifices had to be made. It’s a good thing there’s a bit of a walk to get to the garage, otherwise I think I would have been half asleep at the beginning of my workouts which could have led to disaster!

My weak areas are obviously the press, but also the step ups. I used the barbell for the step ups, but my balance wasn’t the best. It looks like I’ll continue to do those through Stage 2, so I’ll work on getting better with those. There has definitely been improvement, but there’s plenty of room for more!

My back squats and deadlifts were outstanding! I always felt strong on those moves. My grip tends to give out before my strength does so I’ll have to work on getting a stronger grip too (hello farmer’s carry). A couple of the moves that shocked me were the wide grip lat pull downs and seated row. I was able to do a lot more weight than I thought. Grrrr!

There is no doubt in my mind that my core is stronger. I am able to do the prone jackknife without the ball rolling around everywhere (I do mean everywhere!) and I’m able to do regular push ups from the ground, even if they’re not pretty just yet!

Ok, ok, on to the measurements. These aren’t exact, since I didn’t take the measurements on day 1, but it’s close enough (maybe 3 or 4 days off). There are no huge changes but I feel like my body composition has changed.

Start

End

Arms (left)

13.5″

13.5″

Chest

39.5″

40″

Waist

37.5″

37″

Hips

43.25″

43.25″

Thighs (left)

26″

25.75″

Calves (left)

17.5″

17.5″

I also didn’t take before photos. I know…silly me. However, here is the Stage 1 After and Stage 2 Before. I’m not happy with these photos. In my head I’ve become a World Class Fitness Competitor and these pictures do not support that ideal. But, I had a good “woe is me” moment last night and am choosing to ignore the physical evidence and still see myself as a goddess!

Then, for comparison, here’s a shot of me from May (left) and July (right).

I just finished the first quarter of my New Rules of Lifting for Women program. One of the first things I’m noticing is my grip is wanting to give out before my legs do on the deadlifts. That means, I’ll need to work on getting my grip back into shape as well!

Do I like it? Yes, I really do. I’m still in a bit of a CrossFit mentality where I push through the reps as quickly as possible. I should probably slow down a bit and move a little slower. I think I’ve finally figured out what weight I need for most of the exercises to be difficult but not unreasonable.

Will you continue it? Absolutely! I will go through the entire Stage 1 (16 workouts) and then determine at that point whether I want to go on to Stage 2 or return to CrossFit.

What are you numbers as of today? Why…kind of you to ask!

Start

Today

Back Squat

45

75

Deadlift

95

115

Push Up

45%

45%

Seated Row

45

70

Step Up

55

65

Shoulder Press

15

17.5

Wide Grip Pull Down

40

70

Lunge

15

17.5

What areas do you feel least confident about? Easily the Dumbbell Shoulder Press and Push Ups. I’m so used to doing the Presses as Push Presses where you use your legs to get the weight up that I’m finding even 17.5# weights tough to complete the last set. Plus, the bar is much easier than dumbbells! With the dumbbells you find out very fast which side is your weaker and how strong (or weak) your stabilizing muscles are. For Push Ups, I always did them from my knees. Since they don’t want you to do that in NROLFW, I’m having to do 45% push ups for now. I can do a few regular push ups, but not quite at 15 yet. I will try that the next workout and see how it goes. Also, the Prone Jackknife. I can’t balance my legs on the Swiss all to be able to do them! So, I’ve been doing reverse curls instead.

What areas do you feel most confident about? Definitely the Deadlift, Squats, and Seated Row. I have plenty of leg muscle! I’m pleased with my Seated Row performance so far as well. I’ll definitely be going up in weight on Wednesday.

I’m glad I’m changing things up some, but I’ve been having difficulties figuring out how to eat! My calories have been averaging about 1550 or less and that’s no good if I’m trying to build muscle. While I have body fat for the muscles to pull energy from, I don’t want to constantly under feed my muscles either! So, right now I’ve upped my level to 1700. I fully expect to see a gain on the scale come Thursday, but it should work its way back down, if I’m doing it correctly.

As I sit here writing this post, I’m pondering whether I should allow myself to have a cheat day once a month. First, a little background. If you’ve read my blog for a bit you already know this, but I’m going to recap anyway!

I have Idiopathic (meaning don’t know what caused it) Tracheal Stenosis (a narrowing of my airway). Over time, my throat closes up to the size of straw which makes working out, heck even just walking across the parking lot, quite a chore. Think of wearing a nose plug and only being able to breathe what air you can suck in through a drinking straw. Now, think of running or lifting weights while doing that. Yeah…not fun.

Since the doctors don’t know what’s causing it, I’ve been trying to do different things with my diet to see if I can make it better. I’ve been sugar free for 60 days and gluten/dairy free for 45. So far, I can’t really tell where it’s making a difference, except for helping me lose weight! That being said, I don’t want to go through the rest of my life never eating another piece of bread, cake, or Mexican food…mmmm….Mexican food.

With that in mind, I’ve told myself that I would allow 1 day a month where I don’t worry about what I eat. Obviously, I’m not going to binge but I’m also not going to worry about gluten/dairy/sugar. In my mind, once a month is not bad. If I allowed myself one day a week I would be in trouble though.

So, what’s the problem? I’m scared to death that if I break free from my diet for the day that I’ll have a hard time getting back in to the groove the next day which may lead to me eating badly again…then again…and you get the picture. I’ve lost 50+ lbs and I don’t want to gain them back. 6 months ago I would have been “hell yeah!” about a cheat day and not thought twice about it but I would also have probably fallen back in to my cycle of gaining the weight back and having just that much further to go.

This outlook is definitely new for me. This fear…I don’t like it. I should have confidence in myself to make the right choices for me. I want to be one of those people who can enjoy a piece of cake at a party and be able to go back to being healthy. Normally, an all or nothing approach is best for me. Especially since I think I’m a sugar addict. But, it’s just not realistic to think I’m never going to eat it again!

How can I enjoy my “cheat” day and hop back in the saddle without feeling food guilt or fear that I’ll gain 50lbs in one day?

I am 36 years old today. Thirty-Six…that’s 4 years shy of 40. While age has never really mattered to me, I’m left wondering where all that time went. I swear I was just 28 last year! Many of my family and friends sent me birthday wishes and my parents called from the airport to tell me happy birthday. I feel very blessed to have such thoughtful people in my life. Of course, Facebook helps to remind people too! hahaha

Me At 28

Since it was my day of celebration, I decided to take the day off of running and do a Birthday WOD instead. It was short but sweet.

1 Round:

36 Squats

36 Push Ups (Competition Style)

36 Sit Ups (Butterfly)

Finished in 2:36

The push ups were the hardest of the bunch. I had to stop around # 26 to stretch my arms before finishing up. However, I’m well aware that my upper body strength is weaker than my lower body.

Mike and I went out to dinner at Chili’s and had a Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie…yummm. I think I ate enough calories/carbs today to last me a week! Of course, Mike helped me eat it. What a great guy that he’s willing to take on the extra calories/carbs so I don’t eat them all! haha…

I was thinking earlier today that I am probably at my healthiest at 36 than I ever have been. Over the past year I’ve:

1) Lost 25lbs (probably more than that thanks to gaining and re-losing!)

All in all, I think this past year has been a success. I’m still struggling with eating correctly and increasing my endurance/speed/strength, but I’m moving in the right general direction! Let’s hope this next year is even more successful. After all, I have my marathon coming up on Jan. 1st (if I don’t drop down to a 1/2).